The Canadian Peregrine
Foundation

JOHANNESBURG - The majestic saker falcon is being pushed toward
extinction because of soaring demand from wealthy Gulf Arabs who prize the
animal for its hunting prowess, conservation group BirdLife International said
yesterday.

The saker falcon is the traditional species used by Gulf falconers
when hunting the houbara bustard - with devastating consequences
for both species. "The expansion of falconry expeditions into the wide range of
the houbara, and the increasing technological sophistication and efficiency of
these expeditions, has caused the pressure on both the houbara and the saker to
intensify," BirdLife said.

The prices involved are so high, and the demand so great, that
there has been a huge explosion of commercial interest in the species in the
past 20 years or more," it said in a report obtained by Reuters. BirdLife has
recommended to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) that the bird be "red-listed"
as endangered.

The Swiss-based IUCN's Red List is a respected wildlife barometer
widely used by scientists and conservationists.

The classifications are vulnerable, endangered or critically
endangered. Animals in these categories are considered to be threatened with
extinction.

Sakers are traditionally trapped in the autumn, with young
females usually targeted.

This is because they are easier to trap and train than adults, and
more capable than male birds of tackling houbaras, long-necked birds which spend
much of their time on the ground.

The saker's range extends from eastern Europe to China.

BirdLife said recent surveys show its population has fallen to around 4,000 pairs in 2003 from about 10,000 pairs in 1990 - a decline of 60
percent.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have seen the sharpest drops with their
populations down by around 90 percent over the period. Conservationists say
enforcement will not be easy.

The wealth of the buyers, the poverty of the trappers, and the sums
involved down the chain of purchases, are so great that no legal
instruments can really control events on the ground," said Dr. Nigel Collar of
BirdLife.

On the brighter side, economics and the bird's own resilience may
contrive to save it.

If the figures on the decline rates are accurate, then consumers
are likely to turn to captive-bred birds, which can be supplied
abundantly - and at a certain point it will be cheaper to do this than pay for
(rare) wild-caught ones," Collar said.